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Introduction to Linux - A Hands on Guide

This guide was created as an overview of the Linux Operating System, geared toward new users as an exploration tour and getting started guide, with exercises at the end of each chapter.
For more advanced trainees it can be a desktop reference, and a collection of the base knowledge needed to proceed with system and network administration. This book contains many real life examples derived from the author's experience as a Linux system and network administrator, trainer and consultant. They hope these examples will help you to get a better understanding of the Linux system and that you feel encouraged to try out things on your own.

I was going to start a thread about how frustratingly slow it was to print stuff from my KDE (Mandrake) system. Every time I tried to print (from KWrite, Konqueror, or any other KDE program, really), I had to wait 20 seconds before my computer found my printer and said, "Okay, I'm ready. What did you want to print?"

I also had a complaint about KDE being slow, so I posted about that, too. One of the responses was to make sure that the file "/etc/hosts" contained the following line:

Code:

127.0.0.1 localhost

I did that, and magically, poof! Now when I print, my computer can find my printer instantly!

It looks like CUPS (Common Unix Printer System) looks for a server at "localhost", and it searches for this mysterious computer everywhere before realizing that it's referring to itself. By including this line in the /etc/hosts file, I short-circuit this process by making it glaringly obvious which computer we're talking about.

Now, waiting 20 seconds before eventually having CUPS figure things out is not exactly an "error", but it is certainly a *problem*, and I wonder what other things my computer is doing inefficiently, eventually muddling through it but generating no errors/warnings and making me think that Linux is just plain slower than Windows. I have no idea where to even start, since KDE has next to zero documentation. (Don't try to tell me that the "KDE Handbook" is real documentation; it says useless things like "To bring up the File Menu, click on File." Duhhh...) Maybe KDE should have some repository of warnings in /var/log/KDEinefficiencies or something.